Tuesday, September 10, 2013

A couple years ago a movie made it's debut here at the Port Townsend Film Festival. I wasn't a regular attendee at the film fest, but came across an intriguing film in the program guide. It was a comedy about a couple down on their luck comic book shop owners whose luck changes when they stumble across a priceless comic. The movie also starred a local actress, so I figured why the hell not? Comedy and comic books. Right up my alley. The movie...Electric Man...and might I add, I try to attend the Film Fest every year now!

I wasn't expecting to see a film masterpiece by any means, but I was absolutely surprised by Electric Man. It was a very funny film with a very Kevin Smith "Clerks" feel. I didn't even have trouble understanding the accents, which can be tricky sometimes when watching Scottish/English films. I'm definitely a fan of this movie!

I'm not going to ramble too much about Electric Man. The movie is finally making it's U.S. DVD release today actually. I highly recommend you go our and buy or rent this movie and see for your self! Even more exciting, I managed to get a quick interview with the writer/director of Electric Man, Mr. David Barras, where we talk Electric Man, Comic Con, the U.S. release and more! Check out the interview. Watch Electric Man. Email your local Comic-con to bring it in for a screening. Check out this trailer for Electric Man then check out the Q&A with the creator.

First off, I'd Like to thank the writer/director of Electric Man, David Barras, for taking time to answer these
questions for us. I'm sure things are hectic with the upcoming U.S. DVD
release.

-Do we have an exact date as to when that drops here in the states?

DVD
on September 10th, available from Passion River and then on iTunes,
Xbox and Playstation digitally, available through FilmBuff.

-Is it going to be widely distributed? Do we know where it will be available yet?

It
should be relatively widely available, we're also hoping it will be
picked up by some of the indie comic shops, but if you wait until
October and you have a computer or a games console, there's no excuse
for not checking it out.

-This
won't be the first time Electric Man has been seen in the U.S. The film
actually made its world premier at the Port Townsend Film Festival, in
Port Townsend (Where I happen to reside), WA to a great response. How
was the PTFF lucky enough to have the film debut here?

That
was all to do with Jennifer Ewing and her dad Jim. Jennifer, our lead
actress, is from Port Townsend and for a while as a teenager, lived in
Edinburgh where the film is set. Her dad, jim, who is involved in the
Film Festival worked with our cinematographer, Rich, while he was here
and when we came to cast the film, Rich mentioned he knew an actress who
was into comics. Jennifer was living in New York at the time, but we
sent her a script and she filmed an audition and we loved it. So
Jennifer was cast and when the film was complete it seemed natural to
enter it into the Port Townsend Festival. it was accepted and by all
accounts it received a great reception.

-The
film was also screened at the San Diego Comic Con International Film
Festival! That is huge for a comic book genre film to be seen there!
What was the process like getting Electric Man selected to be part of
the biggest comic show in the world?

It's pretty
much the same selection process for all film festivals. You send off
your baby with a hope and a prayer and wait for the judging process to
be over. I remember hearing about this particular success because word
got to us in Scotland at about 11pm and I was so happy. I knew we had to
go and I phoned Scott Mackay (co-writer and Assoc Producer) to tell
him. It was a great feeling, knowing that we'd be heading to the biggest
geek gathering on the planet and somewhere that would be very important
for the film in the long term.

-How well received was Electric Man in San Diego?

It
went down really well. Even though it had played in the US prior to
this, we were worried the accents might be tough for a US audience. We
needn't have been concerned. the humour and energy of the film carried
the screening and we were aware that the film had great market potential
in the US and other English speaking countries.

-How much do you think Electric Man's U.S. dvd release will benefit from the Comic con exposure?

Firstly,
we wouldn't have a US release on DVD and digital were it not for Comic
Con. The buzz around the film's appearance is what led to us being
picked up by FilmBuff (digital distribution) and us seeking out a DVD
distributor (Passion River). However, we played San Diego last year, so
we have to build up a buzz around the film again by getting reviews out,
doing interviews like this one and generally trying to get the word out
about our film with a minute promotion budget. If there's anyone out
there who can help us with this, we'd urge you to get in touch.

-Are there plans to screen Electric Man in any other U.S. cities? If so, How can fans bring it to the big screen in their town?

We're
screening at a Con in North Carolina this coming weekend and we'd love
to be screened in more places. The best way to see this film is with an
audience. There may be other plans to come on this, perhaps in
conjunction with tugg. But, again, if anyone wants to arrange a
screening, get in touch and we'll do everything we can to help make it
happen. There are venues all over the world, which are not cinemas,
which you can hire and project or show the film on a TV to an audience.
We're very open to sending people resources to help them make it happen
and for them and us to make a buck.

-Electric Man was co-written by you and Scott Mackay. What inspired the story?

Scott
wrote the original script in the late 90s while he was a student in
England. It literally came to him in a dream and he spent the next three
days putting it on paper. He showed it to me and I became involved in
developing it. It got a bit of interest and then nothing so it was put
on the back burner and then resurrected in 2009, when we decided to make
a low budget feature. At that point we significantly re-wrote the
entire movie, changed the main characters around (Jazz was originally
the ladies man) and put in more scenes with cell phones.

-Im
totally impressed with the film. Its a great mix of adventure, comedy,
romance, especially COMIC BOOKS...all done in a couple weeks on a small
budget! Was there any point in the movie making process, that you didnt
think Electric Man would see the light of day?

Literally
every day you're making a micro budget feature, you're thinking, when
is this all going to fall around our ears. One major delay, a sick
actor, an accident, inclement weather and that's it, you're screwed. yo
only have to look at Terry Gilliam's attempts to make the Don Quixote
movie to see that this isn't just something that applies to our budget
level. But, the Gods were with us and even though we had some weather
problems and day to day issues, we managed to compromise where required
and persevere to get to the finish line.

-Since I brought up comics, Were you a comic book geek, yourself?

I
was. I was born in 1969, so I was eight when Star Wars was released.
That film changed my life and the lives of countless other children of
the seventies. In the UK, 2000AD (Judge Dredd) launched quickly after
Star Wars and I was hooked. From there I found DC and Marvel but it
wasn't until we got to the eighties and Alan Moore (who started on
200AD) and Frank Miller were writing that I really got into comics. From
there I found people like Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison and from there
onwards I've tended to follow writers I like rather than particular
characters.

-Ive
seen the great Electric Man promo mini comic, but has there been any
thought about actually creating an Electric Man comic book?

Funny
you should mention that. We've had a great deal of interest in this, so
we're about to release Issue 1 in October?November. It's being drawn by
Graham Manley, who drew the opening title sequence for the film and it
will available initially through www.electricmancomic.com. There's also an indiegogo campaign supporting it's creation here - http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/electric-man-needs-you

-Is there anything else you would like to add about the film and its upcoming release in the U.S.?

I
just hope people out there are willing to give us a chance. We don't
have a massive marketing budget to promote this so it's down to word of
mouth and websites like yours to help. Watch the film and if you like
it, tell people and we'll make some more.

-How about yourself? Can you share a little of your background in the entertainment industry?

At
the moment I own and run a film production company called Strange Boat.
We do corporate films and education work and the occasional
documentary. I've been writing screenplays for a long time and have
another four unproduced, two as a co-writer. Scott and I both used to
write role playing games, I did some Call of Cthulhu work and Scott
wrote an acclaimed Cyberpunk adventure called 'Night City Stories.'

We made Electric Man out of a frustration of not being able to get projects made through normal channels.

-In
my personal opinion, as enjoyable as Electric Man is, we can expect a
lot more from David Barras in the future! Is there anything exciting
on the horizon?

Hopefully, but
what that might be is hard to say. We've developed an idea to have Jazz
and Wolf return in sitcom form, we also have an idea for a sequel as
well as the other features I mentioned above. Who knows but there'll be
something. Watch this space.